ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN: ONE AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER AND BODIES OF TWO CIVILIANS REPATRIATED UNDER ICRC AUSPICES

ICRC – Int’l Red Cross
lall/armenia-azerbaijan-news-070410
April 7 2010

Yerevan/Baku (ICRC) – An Azerbaijani soldier detained in Yerevan,
Armenia was today repatriated to the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic
of Azerbaijan under the auspices of the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC).

The operation took place on the road between the Armenian town of
Eraskhavan and the Azerbaijani town of Sadarak.

"Acting as a neutral intermediary and in accordance with our mandate,
we facilitated the serviceman’s repatriation at the request of both
the Armenian and the Azerbaijani authorities," announced Nadya Kebir
Raoloson, head of the ICRC in Armenia. "Before the operation took
place, the detainee had confirmed to ICRC delegates that he was
returning of his own free will."

ICRC delegates had visited the soldier on several occasions prior to
his repatriation to assess his treatment and conditions of detention.

The organization had also made it possible for him and his relatives
in Azerbaijan to exchange family news throughout his detention.

On 3 April, the ICRC also facilitated the repatriation of the bodies
of two Azerbaijan civilians caught along the international border
separating Armenia and Azerbaijan. The bodies were repatriated from
Armenia to the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.

Working under the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC has been operating
in Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1992 in connection with the
Nagorny-Karabakh conflict.